Kisses: For the Moon
by Thorn on a Rose
Summary: Hotaru has been waiting for this moment...like she has for millenia before. One more look at a new beginning for the Senshi of Death and her Princess. Warning: Cute, fluffy shoujo-ai


This popped into my head the night when I should have been studying for a test…the wonders of a mind averse to studying.

Another Sailor Moon for all of you fans! This one, though, is part of my **Kisses** series which I came up with for Valentines Day/no reason. Each fanfic in this series _must be a one-shot, must feature a kiss of some sort_ (and believe me, there are many sorts;p), _and must be in multiple fandoms. _

In other words, this is another brilliant way to distract myself from schoolwork!

Please Enjoy!

_Sailor Moon: Hotaru and ChibiUsa_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon…blah, blah, blah!

ON WITH THE STORY

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**Kisses For the Moon**

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I am not a person inclined to like numbers and mathematical formulas, adding everything up because it is there, like Ami is.

I am not of a habit to remember momentous events in history long past, beyond schoolwork, like Setsuna is.

I am not one given to spiritual prayer to the gods, asking for guidance or giving thanks, like Rei is.

I am not a being who likes to have her heart race from an overflow of adrenaline caused by harrowing situations like Haruka is.

I am not personally interested in being reminded of another time, another place, a similar situation, like Makoto is.

I am not tempted to tease others until their cheeks explode with blood rushing through their arteries, all to make us laugh in camaraderie, like Michiru is.

I am not someone who listens to her heart over her head, getting carried away by a flood of emotion, like Minako.

I am not able to find the good in everything without also seeing the evil that forever shadows the light, trying to extinguish it, like Usagi is.

But…

I have counted the endless myriad of kisses I have received, in every one of my lifetimes, from her.

I have remembered in exacting detail every encounter throughout history, from the very beginning, I have had with her.

I have sent up prayers to every god, in every culture, in thanks for every moment I have been able to spend with her.

I have anticipated that rush and tingling feeling that makes my heart skip and race forward whenever I am near her.

I have compared our meetings and trysts to all the others we have had and found that they would all be similar if not for the feeling of new discovery every time I am with her.

I have teased her mercilessly just to see her peaches and cream complexion turn to strawberries and cream, only then to laugh and blush myself from a comment returned by her.

I have listened only to my heart, my mind always washed away by the overwhelming emotions I harbor, and I cannot bear to refuse her anything within my power to give her.

I have only to look at her eyes to see the world bathed in a light so pure that even the shadows that mar my soul cannot help but be blinded to anything but wanting to be close to and protect the goodness in her.

ChibiUsa…

You have no idea how much you mean to me…

You have only to call for me and the very universe would be yours if you so wished it. Not through my power alone, but through mine combined with your own locked potential. I have the key, you know. You gave it to me so many millennia ago…and I have cherished and kept it safe for when you ask for it to be returned. But you haven't yet, even though I ask if you want it back each time we have met. You just smile breathtakingly so, shake your head, and give me one of those time stopping, heart bursting kisses that I love so dearly. "Keep it," you always say, "I gave it to you."

Dear, loving soul who ties herself to me, without thought to the strife I bring with my presence in the world and without thought to my cold demeanor that has hurt her far more many times than it has protected her, like I wished it would. She said to me once upon a time, that even if I should destroy the very Cauldron of the Cosmos, she would find me and be with me until…well, that's just it, there is no end for her or her love for me. She told me that there is no true end to anything. She would never stop loving me and that was that.

My silence is the only answer I can ever give her when she looks at me with those rose-hued eyes sparkling with life and love, excited to be with me, to be near me, to hold me, to kiss me…to love me. I could never believe that I was enough, that my silent presence was enough for her; but she smiles that smile that sends my dull, glassy purple eye sparkling with new depth and violet fires more suitable to Rei than to me. She understands that my silence is my acquiesce…no…my _desire_ to be with her. No other has ever had my loyalty beyond duty. In that, I share this trait with the others, for they love older Usagi to this extent as well. It is not duty that binds us to the Moon, but love so deep we defy space, death, and time again and again to be with our precious Moon Maidens.

I love you ChibiUsa. I wish to be beside you in every lifetime I am blessed to share with you. I look forward to each new adventure, no matter how it might end, as long as I am with you. I will protect you so that hope and goodness will always continue to shine in your eyes and in your soul.

Dearest Princess, Dearest Love…

You are finally in this world again, in my arms though I am but a child and you but an infant.

Usagi gave birth to you this day and I was ecstatic to know that I could witness this event that I have never before had the privilege to be included in. Haruka-papa had me sitting on her shoulders so I could look in through the window at your tiny figure being rocked in Usagi's arms only half an hour after your birth. Michiru-mama and Setsuna-mama had to hold onto my hands before long because I was beginning to grip Haruka-papa's hair too tightly. My cold purple eyes never left their position and remained solely locked on what I could see of you. I must have been burning a hole in Usagi's arm because she saw me staring so intently through the window and smiled an exhausted but amused smile full of love. She lifted one hand from your blanketed body to beckon me to enter. I don't remember how I got down from Papa's back but I was through the door and into your room before any of the others present could stop me. A few feet away from where you and your mother rested from a hard labor I stopped and just stood there.

From outside the window I had only been able to see a shock of pink hair or a chubby arm exploring a strange new atmosphere. Now, I could see your face. Pink skin held a button nose, two finely lined eyebrows, a smiling mouth, two slanted cheekbones, and a pair of closed eyes as you slept cradled in your mother's arms. You were the picture of warm content and as much as I wished to hold you, I could not disturb your slumber…from what I heard down the hall, you and your mother both deserved rest.

Usagi must have seen my thoughts because she again held out her hand and waved me closer. "It's ok Hotaru. You can hold her. I don't believe she will be waking up for some time." Usagi chuckled at the end of that little statement. Her amusement caused a wave of responding chuckles to rise behind me. It seems that I wasn't the only one eager to see the new Princess. But still I didn't move. I believe the only ones to truly understand why I did not take the chance to hold you were your mother and Setsuna-mama. I had been waiting for you for what seemed like an eternity and now that you are finally here…I'm afraid. There was no real concrete reason that I felt this way; it was just there. And I do not believe I would have moved had Setsuna-mama not done what she did.

"Hello Small Lady. I am so happy to see you again." My head shot up and over towards Setsuna the moment she stepped beyond the invisible barrier that I could not make myself cross. Her darkly toned hands were reaching over to pick you up and I found myself furious that she would get to hold you before I could. My aura must have flared a bit because everything went silent.

"She is mine Setsuna. I will be the first other than our Queen to hold her." The other women behind me drew in surprised gasps at my declaration and the underlying command in my deepened voice. Saturn was making her appearance and sentiments known. Setsuna merely straightened and turned towards me, smiling. "Then you should come over and claim your right. There are others among us who love her and wish to greet her too."

It was like her actions and our words broke the tether holding me behind that line. I came and lifted you gently out of Usagi's arms, settling you into my own inexperienced embrace. The world went away, for you opened your eyes and looked at me. You recognized me. You smiled and gurgled your greeting to me.

I wept from the overflowing feeling of love I held for you. And I renewed my silent oath; the one I always give to you every time we meet, to serve, protect, and love you with my very soul.

And, as you taught me, it was tradition to seal an oath with a kiss, which I delivered with a solemn air to your cheek. You giggled and I drew back with a very happy grin.

Our very first kiss in this lifetime…but hopefully not the last.

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There you have it!

Another complete one-shot in my **Kisses** series!

I sincerely hope you have all enjoyed this one. I about cried when I reread it!

You all know the drill: Read and Review!

ToaR


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